Knuckles eyes dropped as he wandered the city streets, alone. He had many looks from the passers by, but ignored them, an echidna was not a usual sight in these places. After two hours he had yet to find anyone he knew. The city seemed a lot bigger to him than before. He couldn't remember the last time he had visited it, but the memory was so old the buildings wavered and were fuzzy in his mind. But now they stood strong, almost as if they were trying to intimidate him. He cast his eyes downward and melted into his own head. He was too occupied feeling sorry for himself that he didn't look where he was going and smashed right into another creature walking the opposite way.

" Sorry" he mumbled quickly, as the creature crashed to the floor. He looked down and saw who he had collided with, and when his eyes fixed on her image they widened in humiliation

" Argh, you should watch were your going "said the bat in a semi-stern voice. Normally she would have blown a gasket, but unknown to Knuckles she had just encountered a certain black hedgehog and the experience had left her in a hugely lighter mood than normal. She looked up and her eyes widened with recognition. She gave a small smile and said " Well Knuckle-head, looks like after all these years your heads still as hard as ever". Knuckles didn't know what to do, so he decided to copy Rouge and speak in a casual tone, although even this was hard, he hadn't spoken to anyone for almost two years.

" Rouge, it's, it's...good to see you "he finally said, although his speech was strangely broken. Rouge grinned and said

" Was there any reason you finally left that stupid island?". Knuckles was about to blurt out ' To see you!' But decided against it, as it wasn't exactly a way to play it cool. Instead he opted for the response

" I need to see Sonic about something. Do you know where he lives?". Rouge shrugged and stood up.

" Beats me. But Shadow might know". Knuckles nodded and replied

" Do you know where he is?". Rouge gave a little laugh which surprised Knuckles and said

" Of course I do! We're...". Knuckles grew curious when she suddenly paused

" Your what?". Rouge didn't reply straight away, as if she was thinking something over.

" We're good friends " she said, recovering her casual tone as if she had never lost it. Knuckles raised an eyebrow and was about to reply with an over exaggerated ' riiiiiiiiiiiight', but stopped short, when he saw a fuzzy figure on the horizon. He squinted to see, but it was so blurry, he wasn't sure what it was. It's head was covered in what looked like Hedgehog quills, but they were far too numerous and seemed to less stable than a usually hedgehogs and hung slightly over it's head. The creatures bulky, strong looking hands tightening in furry and , in an instant, it had disappeared...

Knuckles was shocked by it's sudden and unexplainable disappearance. He closed his eyes, rubbed them with his oversized hands and fixed his gaze to where the creature was , but again saw nothing. " What you looking at Knuckles?" Asked Rouge when she spotted that Knuckles attention was no longer on her. He was broken out of trance and replied with a mumbled

" Oh, nothing". Rouge shrugged and said

" Well, let's go then". She began to walk off and Knuckles timidly followed her, tacking one more look back and seeing the hill top to be as uninhabited as before. He sighed and lowered his head as he realised that he must have been seeing things again. It worried him that it was still happening now he had found Rouge and that the illusion was now some strange, distant creature that he didn't even recognise.

Lost in his own head. Knuckles didn't even realise that Rouge was talking to him, telling him that they were now outside of Shadows plain and slightly boring looking apartment. Knuckles thought about making a comment about how the ultimate life form lives in the most boring house ever, but decided against it. He wasn't in the mood for jokes at that point.

" How should I know where that faker lives?" Said Shadow, who was not in the best of moods as Knuckles had knocked on his door right in the middle of the hedgehogs shower. Shadow leaned moodily against his door frame, his arms crossed across his damp chest and his eyes fixed with distaste on the red echidna who had just splintered his door while knocking with his large knuckles. Needless to say he was pretty angry. But that didn't last long. Once he saw Rouge, standing casually behind Knuckles, his whole face lit up and he straightened his stance. " Rouge!" He said trying to get his compulsure back " I didn't realise you were here. It's good to see you" he continued, even managing a smile at the end of the sentence. His eyes drifted suspisosly onto the echidna once more. " Why are you with him?" Asked Shadow, almost spitting out the last word. Knuckles grumbled and Rouge replied without a hint of uneasiness in her voice

" Knuckles just arrived in the city from angel island. I found him walking along and offered to help him find Sonic, I thought you may have known where he lives". Shadow . I tilted his head down, it was hard to tell but Knuckles hoped he was ashamed for suspecting anything. The last thing he wanted was to have a grudge against Shadow because he thought he was going out with Rouge. Although at the same time Knuckles hoped that Rouge and he was eventually go out, he had thought of nothing else for a long time. " Oh well. I guess i'll see ya later then Shadow, I have to find Knuckles a place to stay for the night" she said, heading off. Shadow almost jumped out of his door as he shouted

" Come back soon!". Rouge turned her head back and waved with a casual hand gesture. She turned back to Knuckles as he said in a greatfull tone

" You didn't have to do that, you know". Rouge shrugged and said

" What more could a friend do?. Knuckles blushed beneath his fur and mumbled a reply, but Rouge didn't hear it. While they were walking Knuckles took very chance he could to glance at her, without arousing her suspicions. Although they were some differences in her appearance, such as slightly longer hair, he still found her just as beautiful as he had always done. He felt his heart thumping in desire against his chest and his cheeks were fast becoming flushed. He hoped she wouldn't notice.

So when Rouge finally stopped outside of a neon lit club, Knuckles was glad that she had finally halted so he could get away without her noticing that he had become a little redder than usual. He assumed this was a hotel that Rouge was going to hire out for him. But when Rouge said

" Welcome to club Rouge. My home", Knuckles heart started racing again. He was going to stay at Rouges house? With nothing separating them but a flimsy plaster wall? Half of his mind filled with terror, while the other screamed with joy. He was going to be staying with Rouge! Alone! This was the opportunity he had been dreaming about for years. But as they stepped inside, Knuckles immediately began to realise that his vision wasn't going to play out like he expected it to.

She led him in through the back door, where they had a short walk alone a small corridor covered in posters, and excited through another door opposite the one they had just come through. As soon as this door opened, Knuckles eyes widened in surprise and fear.

As the sight filled his eyes he began to realise just how must of a 'club' club Rouge was. A huge boom of techno fuelled music filled the air, vibrating off the walls and jumping around inside Knuckles brain, immediately giving him a headache. Many, many animals, some of them hardly dressed, jerked about in time to the music. The dark room was lit by laser lights that skimmed across the many creatures and lighting their tops up with an ultra violet sheen. Rouge gave Knuckles a wink of encouragement and began to make her way across the crowded room. Knuckles was about to stop her from fear of overly drunk males who wanted more in their mouths than the beer they had been consuming. But Rouge simply strolled casually among them and they parted as if she was royalty. Then, a rebelish looking fox with his shirt torn off and drifting around his shoulders spotted her. He hastily called over his mates, two other foxes in an equal state, one cat who's hair was gelled so ridiculously that Knuckles thought he was a hedgehog first of all and a lizard who looked like he had many, many girls before. They rushed up to Rouge, like dogs wanting meat and began engaging her in conversation while their line quickly surrounded her, leaving her no way to escape.

" Hey sexy. What's been happening?" Said the lizard in a slippery voice that made Knuckles trust him even less.

" Yeah, we en't seen you for a long time. Haven't got any other men you been seeing? "said the cat, leaning over into Rouge. She gave an almost sickening smile and leaned back into the black cat for a few seconds

" Of course not. You know your my fav lads" she said in a tone dripping with lustful suggestion.

" Good batty" drooled the fox over her shoulder. Rouge turned and leaned into him instead, moving her hands a little lower on his body.

" You know me. Im a good girl, sometimes". The fox giggled stupidly and his hand moved somewhere it shouldn't. Rouge whirled round and slapped him.

" Uh, uh,uh" she teased, jumping up and flying out of the circle, landing near Knuckles and dragging him away. When they were safely away from the prying eyes of the perverts and the loud boom of the music, Knuckles faced Rouge and said

" WHAT was that all about?". Rouge didn't turn round as they walked back down the corridor.

" What was what all about?" She replied in a casual tone that made Knuckles blood boil.

" Those perverts! Touching you and drooling over you like you were some kind of sex object! It's disgusting!" He screamed, furious.

" It's called customer service. Do you think I like being grabbed at by those guys? But if I let them have their way, they tip way more. How do you think I make a living when im not hunting jewels?" She snapped back, beginning to get angry with Knuckles questions. Knuckles sighed and said

" I didn't think you were like this". This stopped Rouge. She hesitated, turned and flung her arms around Knuckles, enclosing him in a tight hug. This more than surprised him as he felt a blush erupt onto his face once more. He couldn't respond or ask Rouge why she had suddenly leapt out with an explosion of affection, but Rouge managed to beat him to speaking.

" I'm sorry Knuckles! I hate it here! I'm not really like this! I'm not some slag who flirts with every boy she knows!". Knuckles managed to gain a little control of himself and patted her shoulder uncomfortably. She straightened up and Knuckles saw that she actually did look genially upset. He saw an opportunity and smiled, saying

" Don't worry Rouge. I believe you". The worried looking bat returned the smile and said gratefully

" Thanks Knuckles". She unwrapped herself somewhat shyly and opened a door which led into a somewhat manky looking room. She motioned for Knuckles to go in and walked in herself. She led him through what Knuckles assumed was the living room and into a small bedroom, with many, many posters scattered along the walls and a jewel standing on a pedestal in the corner.

" You can sleep here" said Rouge, indicating a bed that sat innocently in the corner. Knuckles eyes widened and said in an unsure voice

" Is this...your bedroom?". Rouge laughed and said

" No knucklehead! This is the spare! You didn't think we were sharing did you?". Knuckles blushed incredibly deeply and shouted back in a defensive voice

" NO!". Rouge chuckled and replied in sarcasm.

" Of course not". She then walked out of the room, leaving Knuckles alone, sitting on the bed and feeling foolish.

AUTHORS NOTES

Sorry for the lack of updating. I've been buisy and I wanted to make this chapter a long one.